Dear CBA A.P. World History Students and Parents,
It is the time of year that requires our students to continue their education at home. The assigned summer
reading for A.P. World History is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond.
This book attempts to explain the general history of the human species across all continents and the factors that
set some humans on a path toward either dominance or subjugation in the modern era.
Please save yourself money by purchasing the paperback copy or ordering a used copy from Amazon.com
rather than the hard-cover.
Assigned Readings and tentative dates:
(It is advisable to have a 3-subject notebook to use for notes/outlining chapters as you read which will also
be used for the course throughout the school year)
July 18-24
Preface, pgs.9-11
Prologue “Yali's Question”, pgs.13-32
Ch.1 “Up to the Starting Line” pgs.35-52
July 25-31
Ch.4 “Farmer Power”, pgs.85-92
Ch.5 “History's Haves and Have-Nots”, pgs.93-103
August 1-7
Ch.6 “To Farm or Not to Farm”, pgs.104-113
Ch.7 “How to Make an Almond”, pgs.114-130
August 8-14
Ch.8 “Apples or Indians”, pgs.131-156
Ch.9 “Zebras, Unhappy Marriages”, pgs.157-175
August 15-21 Ch.11 “Lethal Gift of Livestock”, pgs.195-214
Ch.12 “Blueprints and Borrowed Letters”, pgs.215-238
Assigned Paper Due Monday September 19:
Cover page with Name, Date, Title, Teacher, Course all centered with 16 point font (cover page only)
5 page minimum, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font
Use footnotes throughout paper for information that is not prior knowledge
Ex. Diamond, J. Guns, Germs, and Steel, To Farm or Not to Farm, pp.126.
Since you will only be using Diamond’s book, only the first footnote on each page needs to be filled out
completely. For the rest, use the following example, Ex. Ibid, pg.129
BE SURE TO ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING IN AN ORGANIZED ESSAY:
Based on your readings, discuss the author's points about the three main factors that led to the growth of
“civilization”, (domestication of plants, domestication of animals, and the development of written language),
citing specific examples from your readings in Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Do you think that specific groups of humans truly had advantages from the beginning of the Neolithic
Revolution, why or why not?